McLaren led the way after the weekend’s first practice session at the Imola GP, but the field looked tight as the top five were separated by less than a tenth of a second. The story didn’t change in the second practice session, as McLaren dominated again. The Papaya team had a larger advantage than in the morning.
The teams and drivers were more acclimatised to the circuit, which ramped up after the morning session. The junior formulas had their qualifying sessions, and more rubber was down on track, yielding more grip. So, FP2 gave a better indication of the teams’ pace for the weekend.
McLaren tops FP2 at Imola GP
Oscar Piastri led Lando Norris by just 0.025 as the McLarens dominated FP2. The field was close in the morning, but the Papaya team were over a quarter-of-a-second clear of third-placed Pierre Gasly. George Russell was fourth, but four tenths behind Piastri. Max Verstappen was fifth as the Red Bull once again lacked pace.
The Dutchman edged out the lead Ferrari of Charles Leclerc as the Scuderia looks to improve from the morning session. Isack Hadjar was a well-placed P7, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda. Williams, who has been looking strong this weekend, rounded out the top 10.
FP2 CLASSIFICATION
Piastri by a whisker from Norris at the top 🤏#F1 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/hWX1C9Yl80
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 16, 2025
However, it was a worrying sight for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion could only muster P11 and two tenths behind Leclerc. This will give Hamilton some work to do to catch up to his teammate. The crumb of comfort for the Scuderia is that they looked to have stronger race pace than qualifying pace.
Aston Martin and Sauber look like the teams who would struggle the most this weekend. Aston Martin’s highest runner was Fernando Alonso in P14, while Gabriel Bortoleto recovered from his crash in FP1 to put his Sauber in P16.
Isack Hadjar brings out the red flag as traffic concerns at Imola
Teams lost vital minutes in FP1 when Gabriel Bortoleto brought out the red flag. The drivers would have wanted a clean run with no incidents. However, this didn’t happen. Another rookie, Isack Hadjar, brought out the red flag towards the end of FP2.
The Frenchman got caught in the gravel at Tamburello, and while trying to rejoin the track, beached his Racing Bull. This brought out the red flag with little time left on the clock. However, the session restarted so drivers could do practice starts.
McLaren Lead the Way in FP1 as Bortoleto Crashes Late in Imola GP
Red flags have not been the only concerns for drivers so far this weekend. Imola is one of the shortest circuits on the calendar, so traffic will be a major factor when all twenty cars are on track.
In FP2, Alonso was held up behind Franco Colapinto as the Spaniard was on a flying lap. This also happened to home favourite Kimi Antonelli, who encountered a slow-moving Yuki Tsunoda. This could cause mayhem in the first session of qualifying.
